Director, senior leaders gather off-site to discuss new strategic plan

FORT BELVOIR, Va. - Defense Logistics Agency Director Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly and leaders from across the agency gathered to discuss the next five-year strategic plan June 26-27 during a senior leader off-site at the Fort Belvoir Community Center.

The event allowed leaders to take a close look at the agency's current operations, share insights and identify priorities as they drafted an initial structure of the new plan, which is scheduled to roll out this fall.

"As we go into this off-site, I'd like the full team to be open and willing to embrace new approaches to operating," Simerly said.

He challenged participants to consider the agency's mission, values and critical capabilities while building the new plan and metrics for measuring success.

Attendees heard from speakers on topics like contested logistics, supply chain resilience, industrial base issues and workforce modernization. Leaders also participated in breakout sessions to tackle hard questions and address feedback from federal partners and military customers.

The director reminded leaders of the agency's ability to withstand change as he shared examples of how DLA adjusted to support transitions of the services and combatant commands throughout history.

"Our changes must integrate with and reinforce their transformations," he said. "As the nation's logistics combat support agency, we have a responsibility to play a critical and unique role in enabling deterrence by resilience and being credibly capable."

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment Christopher Lowman served as the keynote speaker and echoed the director's sentiments.

The nation's adversaries are constantly adapting their tactics and technologies. This calls for an upgrade and evolution of our sustainment strategies," he said. "There is a need to operationalize DLA across the globe as an urgent priority and [it] is critical to supporting the services and CCMDs [combatant commands]."

As attendees discussed agency- and customer-specific concerns, Simerly challenged leaders to ensure that people and culture underpin the new strategic plan.

"We have to be really focused on what we must do to preserve, to maintain and to build a great culture in our workforce," he added.